Info on towing rear kitchen units

[glenbarb]

Are rear kitchens harder to pull as far as expect more bouncing of the unit instead of the side kitchens?

[Montana_621]

I agree with Carol, buy the floor plan you like and don't worry about stuff moving around. We have a rear kitchen like Carol's and the only thing that has happened to us was the cups fall over but it's not a big deal. I use a plate stacker from target and then the no slip pads too so it's not really a problem.

[sreigle]

Same with our 3295RK. Nothing on the bed moves at all. Dresser items rarely move unless we take a sudden sideways dip or I drop it off a curb (). Kitchen items can slide forward in the fore-aft cabinet but we use tension rods side-to-side to keep them from going into the next compartment. We use non-skid shelf liner between stacked glass bowls. The only thing we've broken in all our travels is one dish and that was before we used the nonskid for padding.

As for towing, when we were first looking at the 3295 a friend who was a member of RVCG looked in their book and said it was noted as a well-balanced unit, one of the best in that regard. And I would agree with that, based on thousands of miles towing it. Our prior 2880RL also towed nicely and I understand that's one of the many fine attributes of the Montanas. I don't find any more bouncing than I did with any of our four fifthwheels. In fact, the 3295 probably bounces less, possibly because it's the heaviest we've owned.

[CountryGuy]

Steve and Vicki

At the Rally, be prepared, I want to see those tension rods and your application/installation.

I have some, and my dishes walked right by em! Oh, yea, I have the slipnot stuff in every cupboard, drawer, etc. all through the unit.

[Montana_1636]

We took our 3650 out on a shakedown cruise and were surprized to see that the stuff in the kitchen didn't move at all. The roads were pretty smooth and we lined our shelves with the rubbery shelf liner.

[sreigle]

Carol, are your rods side-to-side between the cabinet supports? It's hard to explain. The island runs fore-aft with cabinet doors on each side, right? You know that cabinet post between the doors on one side of the island? We have tension rods running between that post and it's counterpart on the other side of the island. Hope that makes sense. You do that and yours walk past them? Nice thing about this arrangement is those rods are not in the way of anything.

[CountryGuy]

Steve,

yeap, I think I understand, and yeap, they walked past.

do you have those rods with the little plastic stuff (DUH, how DO you describe some of this stuff) between. So, the two rods are put in as one unit??

Mine are seperate rods. And, they are not in the way, plates slide right under em! I have adjusted, so hopefully it held the glasses on the other side from falling down??

Maybe I just have better luck on those "wonderful" roads???

Carol

[ronstan]

We have only been out twice now with the 3295 but it doesn't bounce like our 28 ft Sportsman. But the trailer weighs more also but I like it better. So far things have not bounced around that much.

[sreigle]

Carol, the rods are singles. But I think I know what's happening to you and why it doesn't happen to us. We have dishes, soup bowls, saucers in a rack so it's hard for them to go anywhere. Plus, they are in the "north", meaning toward the front end of the Montana, end of that cupboard so they would hit the cupboard wall if they tried to walk that direction. But it's mainly the rack that keeps them in place. Glasses, mixing bowls, and the myriad of other things up there are kept from sliding "forward" by the rods. However, they still can end up leaning on the cabinet door so we do open doors carefully the first time after setting up. We used to put rods the width of the doors when traveling to keep that from happening but it happens so seldom and they're a pain to remember to put in place that we quit doing that. We've had glasses fall over on very rough roads but generally they stay put pretty well.

[CountryGuy]

AHHH HA

So, I need to see that rack!!

And move the glasses to the SOUTH.

Carol

[Montana_1520]

glenbarb,
Don't know about the first part of your question about the pulling but can agree with everyone on stuff moving around. We just bought a couple of rolls of that non-skid stuff and put it into all the cabinets. We also bought the cute little plate rounds to put between the dishes...but don't seem to need them. We do use the non-skid stuff between stackable glass items and have had no problems. And you can buy the non-skid stuff just about anywhere...Wal-Mart, Target, etc.
The only thing the seems to get a good "shaking" in our 3670RL are the 2 rocker/recliners in the back IF we forget to use the straps to tie them down (duh!)
#29 fans
04 3670RL Big Sky
04 Chevy 3500 CC Dually 4WD Duramax/Allison

[sreigle]

Carol, here's a couple of pictures of the cupboard, with bars. Might be easier to visualize than to describe. Don't know if you can see but the far left cupboard, the rear cupboard has glass mixing bowls and glass measuring cups with non-skid between them.

Cupboard with bars, view 1
Cupboard with bars, view 2

[vickster]

sreigle - wow are your cupboards nice and neat and tidy. You have inspired me to reorganize!

[Montana_1520]

Wow sreigle!
I agree with vickster--you really put some of us to shame. We think the reason our stuff doesn't move around is we have those cupboards crammed full...there's no room for anything to move. Maybe we should organize like yours....NAH! We just won't let anyone take pictures!!!
You are our idols!
#29 fans
04 3670RL Big Sky
04 Cehvy 3500 CC Dually 4WD Duramax/Allison

[CountryGuy]

I SEE, I SEE !!!

Is that a Walley World shelf thingy in the NORTH??

The main difference is, I have no shelf and my cups are where you have the dishes.

Looks like a little moving around is gonna happen.

Thanks for the photos!

Carol

[lightningjack11]

Don't know how the new ones are but I just completed a 4800 mile trip in a month and it was smooth as silk. That is except for one campsite in the bush of West Virginia. I have always been impressed with the handling of my RK. Weight is right at 11000 actual.

[sreigle]

The organization is Vicki's touch, not mine! But I do have to confess a number of dishes were in the sink waiting for me to do the dishes. You might have noted the bottom of the pictures was cropped off. Guess why!

Vicki hoped you noticed the upside down Montana coffee cup in the first picture. She got it at the Hardin KOA in Hardin, MT. It's not a Montana FW cup but the sun and mountains are pretty close to the same as the decals on our Montana.

[Montana_621]

LOL! Great pictures Steve, thanks for sharing. Now I know why our stuff doesn't move, we have it in the rear cabinet. The one you are using for your plates and stuff is full of food, we have more food than we do dishes and stuff. LOL

And yes we got the plate stacker at Target so I'm sure you could get it at Wal-Mart. It was only $5.

[sreigle]

Carol, ours came from Target, like Mel. But Vicki says she thinks WalMart has them, too. Only thing I don't like about it is you have to remove plates from the one side only.